2018 National Legal & Medical Malpractice Conference Presenters

NLMMC May 3-5, 2018 - Thompson Hotel - Chicago

This presenters will not only help you earn your continuing education credits for the year but will provide you with knowledge to use in your practice every day. Earn up to 12 hours of CLE credit depending on your state's bar requirements.

Patricia C. Bobb- Medical Malpractice best practices in the courtroom

A principal of the law firm of Patricia C. Bobb & Associates, and Of Counsel to the law firm of Meyers & Flowers, Patti's litigation practice focuses on representing individuals in personal injury cases with an emphasis on medical malpractice. She has tried more than 100 jury and bench trials in federal and state courts. Her experience and integrity as a lawyer is confirmed by her selection by both judges and fellow attorneys to act as a mediator in arbitrating more than 50 major medical malpractice cases.Patti has also been actively involved in many professional organizations including serving as past President of the 22,000 member Chicago Bar Association and as a member of the Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association. She was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) and served as a Regent for Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana on ACTL's Board of Regents. She is also a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) and currently serves on ITLA's Board of Managers.

David Boyd & John Blumberg- Legal Malpractice and fraud liability for misleading website claims of experience.

David's practice emphasizes defense of attorneys, accountants, insurance and real estate professionals, business litigation, and litigation involving engineering, architects and construction disputes. He is admitted to practice in California and has appeared before state and federal courts throughout the United States. David is certified as a specialist in legal malpractice law by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization, and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He frequently serves as a judicial arbitrator, a settlement conference attorney, and a mediator. He has taught Advanced Torts at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, and has written numerous articles for various legal journals, particularly in the areas of trial practice and ethics. David has been active in state and local bar activities including the Sacramento Bar Council, the Professional Responsibility Committee of the Sacramento County Bar Association, the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct of the State Bar of California (COPRAC), Sacramento County Liaison to the State Bar Commission for the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations, the American Bar Association and numerous trial lawyer organizations. David is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

John Blumberg has been practicing law since 1976, specializing in tort litigation. He is triple-board certified: as a trial lawyer by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, as a medical malpractice specialist by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys, and as a legal malpractice specialist by both the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization and the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been designated a Southern California "Super Lawyer" since 2004. Mr. Blumberg serves on the Board of Governors of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) as its parliamentarian, and the Board of Governors of the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. In 1991 he was accepted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) in which he currently holds the rank of Advocate, with more than 50 jury trials. He has published dozens of articles on trial advocacy and law practice and serves on the faculty of the ABOTA Trial School. In previous years, Mr. Blumberg was Chair of the California State Bar Committee on Rules and Procedures of Court, on the Board of Governors of Consumer Attorneys of California and National ABOTA, president of the Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach and on the faculty of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s Trial and Deposition Advocacy courses. In 2005, he was a nominee for CAALA's Trial Lawyer of the Year. His Long Beach firm, Blumberg Law Corporation, consists of four lawyers, including an M.D.-J.D. and a certified specialist in Appellate Law.

Sandy Dean- What attorneys need to know about Nurse practitioners

Board certified family and pediatric Nurse Practitioner and previous adjunct professor with Georgetown University, SandyDean is the proprietor of Landmark Medical Legal Consulting. Landmark Medical Legal Consulting was founded in 2011 to provide excellent, professional service that is consistent with the most current evidence-based research and to bridge the gap of understanding between two very complicated professions, providing Landmark clients' cases the best chances they deserve. While her work has primarily been extensive preparation for Medical Malpractice litigation for both plaintiff & defense, Dean also serves as an expert witness. “What attorneys need to know about Nurse practitioners" will explore best practices for deposing nurse practitioners and physician's assistants, covering scope, protocol and the ethical considerations therein.

James H. Lawlor III- Medical Evidence

Over his career spanning more than 25 years, he has successfully recovered millions of dollars for the victims of catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims in Illinois. He is a past recipient of the Illinois Bar Association’s prestigious Lincoln Award, an award given to one young lawyer each year in the State of Illinois based on a competition for excellence in legal research and writing. In 2010, on the motion of The President of the DuPage County Bar Association, he became licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court, in a ceremony presided over by Chief Justice John Roberts and other members of The Court.

Melissa L. Loberg- Tilting the playing field: Special weapons and tactics in jury selection

The presentation covers the development of a general theory based on three decades of psychological research that identifies plaintiff and defense juror typologies obtained through the application of various approaches to psychological measurement conducted in jury selection. These typologies are described in terms of stable temperament characteristics, personality dimensions and information-processing styles that reliably predict verdict preferences in civil cases. Approaches to obtaining information in jury selection are covered, ranging from voir dire tactics; design of the supplemental juror questionnaire; and the use of online sources and private investigators. Special emphasis is included on the implementation of reliable measurement formats for items utilized in the supplemental juror questionnaire, with a discussion of the efficacy of the use of such questionnaires generally. Broader strategic issues related to challenges for cause, and techniques for shaping the panel as a whole, are also considered.

Melissa Loberg is a Litigation Consultant at Courtroom Sciences, Inc. Dr. Loberg has been conducting research, teaching and publishing empirical articles in the area of psychology and the law for the past fifteen years. She applies her expertise in research methodology to the planning and implementation of focus group and mock trial studies, as well as the development and analysis of jury supplemental questionnaires and post-verdict juror interviews. Additionally, she applies her training and education in Clinical Psychology to the preparation of witnesses in anticipation of both deposition and trial. Dr. Loberg has provided CLEs to attorneys regarding effective use of jury supplemental questionnaires, the ability of mock trial research to inform settlement decisions, and neuropsychological approaches in witness training.

Malcom "Mic" McConnell Medical Malpractice

Malcolm "Mic" McConnell is the lead medical malpractice attorney at Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen. He has settled or tried cases in virtually every medical specialty since he began practicing law in 1987. He has been rated by other attorneys as Martindale-Hubbell AV, the highest rating available for competency and ethics. He has been listed in Virginia’s Super Lawyers every year since 2006, and in Best Lawyers in America every year since 2007. Best Lawyers in America named Mic Richmond’s Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year in 2013 and 2016.

William F. McMurry- Presenting Electronic Health Records in the courtroom

Past President of the ABPLA and holds dual certifications in medical and legal negligence. Mr. McMurry is recognized as “Preeminent” in the specialties of medical and legal malpractice by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. McMurry is also Board Certified by the Florida Board of Legal Specialization and the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) as a “Civil Trial Specialist.” Mr. McMurry has lectured extensively to national and state trial lawyer organizations around the country on both legal and medical negligence.

David Rapoport and Dr. Sharon Grouper Trends in Anesthesiology Malpractice

David E. Rapoport is the founding and managing partner of Rapoport Law Offices. In 35 years as a full time trial attorney, he has consistently won multimillion-dollar jury verdicts and settlements for people who have been wrongfully injured and the families of people who have been wrongfully killed. Recently, as the lead trial attorney, David obtained record high jury verdicts and settlements for his clients, including a $ 6.4 million medical malpractice case in 2017; a $3 million landmark jury verdict against a pharmaceutical company in a drug induced suicide wrongful death case in federal court in Chicago in 2017; a $4.3 million jury verdict in an Illinois medical malpractice case that was affirmed on appeal in 2016.David is a leader of the movement to encourage board certification for trial lawyers. From August of 2013 to August of 2016, he was the President of the NBTA. In addition to being the Immediate Past President of this non-profit more than 2,000 member organization, he is a Director, a member of the Executive Committee and the Chair of the Communications Committee. David recently explained: "In this era of Wild West style lawyer advertising, it has never been more important for the public to have an easy to use and reliable means of identifying the small fraction of practicing attorneys who truly have substantial experience trying lawsuits. Board certification programs help consumers of legal services make more informed choices. Too many lawyers are out there claiming they have substantial trial experience, when the truth is they have never or hardly ever tried a case. Board certified trial lawyers have proven their substantial trial experience in ways the public can trust."

Sharon Grouper, MD is a private practice anesthesiologist with an impeccable safety track record. Dr Grouper provides expert witness consulting to both plaintiff and defense attorneys. He possesses a unique ability to precisely dissect surface as well as complex and intangible elements of a given case and set of facts. He grew up in Israel and graduated from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also completed his specialty training at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Sharon prides himself on his dedication to the field of Anesthesiology.

John Romano- Proving and arguing liability in professional malpractice cases to conservative jurors: The art, the science, the myths, & the insanity

John has successfully litigated to a verdict nearly every type of civil and criminal case, including those involving failure to diagnose cancer, product defects, drug and vaccine defect litigation, libel and slander, vehicular collisions, personal injury, murder, armed robbery and wrongful denial of health insurance benefits. He lectures across America on trial advocacy and tort and criminal law, has authored three textbooks, and has published more than 100 articles in national publications or papers for national presentation.

James Szalados- Digital Distraction and Legal Risk

MD, JD, MBA, MHA, FCCP, FCCM, FCLM-The modern digital age has fostered a myth that multitasking equates to efficiency; in fact multitasking is in fact the diametric opposite of mindfulness and focus. The human mind is incapable of focusing fully on more than one critical dataset at a time. Lack of focus is recognized to result in slips, lapses, omissions, and procedural violations. The fiduciary duty of a physician is to dedicate his or her education, training, and skill to the care of a patient's medical care, in accordance with generally accepted standards. Where there is a conscious choice to engage in distractions during the patient-provider encounter, the expectations and rights of patients are violated; and errors, when they occur and are discovered, become difficult to defend in a court of law.

Allison L. Wood is Principal of Legal Ethics Consulting, P.C. in Chicago. She has nearly twenty years of legal ethics experience having served as a former Hearing Board Chair and former Litigation Counsel with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). Since 2011, her firm provides expert testimony in legal malpractice cases; represents attorneys before the ARDC; and counsels law graduates before the Character & Fitness Committee.Prior to her service with the ARDC, she was a Partner at a boutique law firm where she handled commercial litigation, products liability, and employment matters. She has extensive trial experience in State and Federal courts, as well as administrative tribunals. . Ms. Wood is a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and the Illinois Supreme Court Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility. She is a former member of the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association.

Adam Malone Effective Voir Dire in Medical Negligence Cases

Adam Malone is based in Atlanta, Georgia and dedicates his entire practice to helping families in cases involving brain injury, spinal cord injury, burns, amputation, and wrongful death. Adam has obtained record jury verdicts, including a $24.5 million verdict in a case involving an above-knee amputation which is reported to be the largest personal injury verdict ever returned in Albany, Georgia. Adam has also earned a reputation for excellence in the appellate courts. Due to Adam’s work, the Georgia Supreme Court struck down the state’s cap of $350,000 on non-economic damages in medical negligence cases as violating the constitutionally guaranteed right to trial by jury. This ruling not only permitted his client to recover the amount of damages determined by the jury in that case - it was much more important than that. This decision ensured that all patients harmed by preventable medical errors have the right to trial by jury and the right to be completely compensated in an amount determined by jurors, not legislators.